One month has passed since I arrived in Ottawa. Since then, I have found somewhere to live, furnished it, learned the basic layout of the city, and become settled in my job. The most notable thing I have not done is make any friends. I know people at work and there are people who I knew before who I now hang out with here, but there is nobody of my age outside work who I have met here and now interact with socially. That is a big change from Oxford, where you are immediately immersed in a collection of social circles: college, program, department, clubs, etc.
The process of acclimatization must continue, in areas that are as important but not as urgent as finding somewhere to live. With at least eleven months left here, it is a wise area in which to invest.
Milan,
I too have experienced the “Ottawa sucks with no friends” after the Liberals lost the election and everyone went back to BC. I am in Kingston now and perhaps I can show you around the next time I’m in town. Meet you on MSN. Hang in there buddy!
Kristen
That’s one thing that almost scares me about leaving Oxford – the need to make a new group of friends, without the obvious advantages of a department and college through which to do so.
It’s August. Ottawa will be a very different place soon.
have you already discovered these veggie buffets?
The Green Door (Main street)
The Table (Holland and Wellington, a bit closer to you, but I like the green door better)
Also, have a look at Cheap Eats Ottawa.
I still don’t have many friends in Ottawa. Socially, it is much more inaccessible than university was.